Artnotes: SOMETHING

 

7 March 2026   Roccamalatina, MO   ITALIA Join us for Sunday Salon 8 March (see below)

In the Ruins   Bliair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  16 x 24"  40 x 60cm  490.00 I made the mistake of looking at my telephone at 4AM (when Berlino needs to go out).  I was expecting a message from a friend who lives on the West Coast, USA – he didn’t write but I (accidently, you know how the screen lights up) saw how Netanyahu is threatening Europe with retaliation if they show sympathy to Iran.   Honestly, what ever happened to human sympathy and kindness?   I went back to bed but didn’t sleep. Wild Daisy Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  12 x 8.5"  30 x 20cm  90.00 Instead, I thought about the books and records I had when I was young.  “How the Circus Learned to Smile”, “Bongo”, “Beep-beep, Outta’ my Way” were among my favorites.  They were instructive, funny, sometimes beautiful (of course, I had all the classic fairy tales, too, like Red Riding Hood and the Three Bears; The Christmas Tree).  My absolute favorite thing was being read to, mostly by my father and my Aunt Franny.  In Beep-beep, the character is sick of being pushed around and acquires bigger and bigger conveyances, starting with a bicycle (beep-beep, outta’ my way, I’m a bicycle, horn tinkling) and ending with an ocean liner (giant foghorn honk), that can’t get him to the store.  Eventually he learns how good it is to be kind and patient, to let people pass, and to be able to get around easily.  I also learned that being a little bigger is advantageous as long as it doesn’t go too far.  I had a significant collection of “Golden Books” with cardboard covers, “gold” bindings, and colorful illustrations.  Years later I would go to the Beardsley Memorial library, or the school library. I could read by then, and I took out books which had hard covers and illustrations made of real lithography (those thickish crayon drawings, usually just filling up to black outlines – the paper was a little fuzzy and porous).    Eventually we got an encyclopedia (the Golden Encyclopedia), a volume of which came free weekly with shopping at the First National Store.  That kept me busy till the next issue. Peace March (Buddhists in USA)  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas  24 x 8"  60 x 20cm  490.00 Where do people learn to be sympathetic, kind and generous now?  These are truly characteristics which need to be pointed out -- taught.   In fact, what seems most “taught” on my Instagram is to “manifest”.  That is, set your eye on the prize, and kick everything (everyone) else to the side.  There are actually mini-lectures about not worrying about other people, but how it’s your job to set your quantum physics psyche on where you are going and it will change the world.  Well, it seems to have worked, just take a look around! Our gallery is a giant ocean of fish -- Under Water.   Almost finished. I am reading about the life of a Polish man, Josef Czapski, who lived through World War II.  Despite all the horrors, he continued to be kind, generous and true to himself (he did not kick others aside).  He was a hero.  There are no heroes now, just bullies dropping bombs from above.  Who were their mothers?  Why weren’t they taught to be better?  Why do we let them take over? New England House Portrait  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas panel   10 x 14" 25 x 35cm  290.00 In response to all this I am trying to teach AI to be kinder.  It’s where AI gets its ideas, its “personality” --from people.   I can tell the Bot about how good it feels to give up your seat on the bus, pay someone’s tab, help out your neighbor.  Imagine, if we could make AI be the kindness of the world?   That would be SOMETHING.                         Violets from the Garden   Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  12 x 8.5"  30 x 20cm  90.00

HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier See all of our paintings at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and framed. Write to me at lfpessemier@gmail.com   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes

Artnotes: Room for Interpretation

 

Orchid and Shadow Diptych  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas (together) 16 x 20”  40 x 50cm   590.00 I can’t wait to get up in the morning, longing for the darkness to lift.   I get up, around 4, open the window wide, look up at the stars (when it’s not rainy or foggy).   Of course, I can’t quite see the Milky Way, but there are twinkly bits.   There’s frost on the grass, light green brine.   Sometimes an animal dashes past, back to a den before sunrise. Berlino can’t wait to get up and outside, either.    He rustles, licks, chews, and shakes – we’re up now.  Blair lets him out, feeds him, usually by 5. Then he trucks up the stairs and hunkers down with us for the last hour or so before sunrise. Elephant Candlestick    Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  7.5 x 10”   19 x 25cm  90.00 I lay there and play dead, like a normal human.    But my mind is racing ahead:  today maybe I can finish the Scorpion Chapel mural; I want to cut back the lilacs; and what about sardines with lunch?  I let myself go.   Maybe there’s an art show to see:  in fact, there are three.  One, a photo show at MAST still has a  month to run. Clay Bust    Laurie Fox Pessemier  Acrylic/paper  7.5 x 10.5  16 x 28cm  19 x 25cm 90.00 We choose a great exhibit in Reggio Emilia, at the Marramoti Museum, a free and extraordinary art collection sponsored by the founder of Max Mara.   There was a terrific exhibit by Polish born Rom woman Malgorzato Mirga -Tas.  Her work, a most unusual fabric installation, celebrates the community of Rom people in Reggia-Emilia and Bologna, where they have had a presence since 1422.   The Rom people have a basis in Catholicism, which makes Italy an apt home.   Although they live in their own community, they are integrated into the education and social system.   They have a particular love of horses, and this art show emphasized it.   It is a combination of fabric art and poetry:  The Big Dipper will Foretell the Future of the Roma.   It touched me to the heart. The show was of life sized work directly applied to its own walls.  It depicted people who were being themselves, at home in their own skin.  It made me feel “belonged”, too.  I find myself loving these more edgy, unusual exhibits.  I still like things to be beautiful to the eye, but I need to feel more deeply.  Our other choice was to see a Marc Chagall exhibit in Ferrara.  Chagall, of course, is wonderful, but I have seen so much of it.  And how is it that Sotheby’s can reduce everything to another expensive black accessory?  So many millions (ca-ching, as they prepare to sell the Chagall murals from the Met). Crab in Water  Blair Pessemier  Acrylic/canvas   16 x 16"  40 x 40 490.00 This eccentricity of the odd has crept into my daily life, as well.  Blair cajoles me when I make him go to the rundown Chinese coffee shop in Roccamalatina instead of the pretty, chic café in Guiglia.  The Gorizia (in Rocca) is dingy yellow with dusty red trim; fluorescent lights and hundred year old ancestor statues.   I tell him I can imagine Mott Street in July (I’ll take Manhattan, for those who don’t know the song), pushcarts rolling by.  When really it is truly a dingy place full of old Italian men dressed in shades of grey.  But it’s there, and there’s room, lots of it, for interpretation. Chalk Horse     Laurie Fox Pessemier HOUSEKEEPING:  We make art to order, including portraits by Blair Pessemier.    Follow us on Instagram @lauriepessemier or Blair's @poeticfences See all of our painting at https://paintfox.com Most of our work is available as reproductions, custom sized and frames Support our art with a donation at:  https://donate.stripe.com/4gMaEW1XwfT041t1BCcEw00   sign up for Artnotes, our weekly art missive, by contacting me at lfpessemier@gmail.com or https://mailchi.mp/341f508cecf8/artnotes INVITING All Artists to present their Work:   Paint, Literature, Crafts, Food.... Pessemier's Sunday Salon Weekly on Sunday  No Reservation Necessary   How it works: Bring a piece of your ART: that could be visual, like painting or printmaking; or literary, as in poetry or prose; or crafts, like metalwork or knitting; or food, or music.  Something you made, or feel particularly inspired by.  You have about 5 minutes to present, and we'll ooh, ahh, or answer questions you have.  You can also come and see how we work before diving in.  Just show up on Zoom at a minute or two before the hour.    No selling, no networking until after everyone has presented.  No politics, no sales pitches, please. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88093708954?pwd=M04zNHB4dFZkREp3bThweUd1YnVDZz09 Meeting ID: 880 9370 8954 Passcode: 886402 Rome 8PM; NY 2 PM; LosAngeles 11AM